Safety circuits for electrical products have been used for decades to protect against overheating and electrical fires caused by short circuits resulting from design defects, manufacturing and material defects and component failures. One example of a safety circuit is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 9,148,911 which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
While prior safety circuits have been found to function adequately, they have tended to be somewhat complex in design. That is, prior safety circuits have included complex coordinated switching logic, timing circuits and testing circuits requiring numerous circuit components. These circuits and their associated operating and control software can be relatively costly to produce.